As of July 15, 2026, the Palestinian healthcare system is on the brink of collapse due to a combination of financial restrictions imposed by Israel and escalating violence in the occupied West Bank and Gaza. Under the Oslo Accords of the 1990s, Israel collects taxes and customs from Palestinians and is obligated to transfer these funds to the Palestinian Authority. However, since 2019, Israel has increasingly withheld these funds to penalize the Palestinian Authority for seeking international recognition of Palestinian statehood and holding Israel accountable for alleged violations of international law.

A year ago, Israel ceased all fund transfers, depriving the Palestinian Authority of approximately $6 billion, nearly 70 percent of its public income. This financial shortfall has left the Palestinian Authority unable to pay full salaries to doctors and medical staff, with payments reduced to 30 to 50 percent over the past three years, forcing many healthcare workers to reduce their hours. Consequently, the public health system struggles to cover salaries, pharmaceutical bills, private healthcare providers, and maintenance of medical infrastructure.

The Palestinian Medical Relief Society, co-founded by Mustafa Barghouti, operates 123 mobile clinics serving nearly 300 communities in the West Bank and Gaza, many of which lack alternative medical care sources. The situation is even more dire in Gaza, where health, water, and sanitation systems have been devastated by an ongoing blockade and Israeli military attacks. Since October, these attacks have resulted in the deaths of more than 1,700 health workers.

Without urgent international intervention to address these issues, the healthcare system relied upon by Palestinians for lifesaving treatment and primary care faces imminent total collapse.

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